So, after deriding OnePlus for their shoddy distribution practise I’ve gone and bought their phone anyway. How did that happen and how two faced can one man be?

Well, I did what I said I was going to do. I got sick of their method of sending “invites” to buy a phone via competitions. Smashing phones and all sorts were required – basically, hoop jumping. I stopped trying. However, I did get emails from them telling me when they were giving more invites anyway and many of them consisted of nothing more than following them on Facebook and Twitter to be able to enter. I was already following them so I simply had to click a button. That kind of hoop jumping I can do.

None-the-less no one was more surprised than me to get an invitation on Wednesday night but, I have to say, I wrestled with the decision for some time as to whether to buy one or not.

This is what the OnePlus particularly offered to me that was better than my Nexus 5…

1. AC band WiFi. The Nexus 5 is dual N.
2. A much bigger battery life
3. An excellent 13 MP Sony camera

But here were my concerns…

1. It doesn’t have QI charging, which my Nexus 5 does. However, I don’t use it, so not much of an issue there.
2. The phone’s 4G support is patchy. It supports Three (which I use) but not on all the bands that Three uses. I don’t have 4G at home or work though – it’s patchy in-between at best – and I don’t really have the need for it. My Three contract comes with 4G for free so I’m not losing anything even if it doesn’t work.
3. The OnePlus has a known issue with some phones having a yellow banding at the bottom of the screen. It many cases it disappears after a short amount of time (it’s to do with the glue that bonds the screen together). The OnePlus Support is not getting a good reputation so if I have this problem getting it resolved may be tricky.
4. There are microphone issues which makes the phone pretty unusable for Google Now. I don’t really use Google Now voice commands so, again, not a big problem and I suspect a fix in future will resolve this.
5. Android “L” is due in a few months. If I stick with my Nexus 5 I’ll get it soon after release but with the OnePlus…. ? I’ve since read that OnePlus pledge to get “L” out to the OnePlus within 3 months of its release.
6. I’ve only had my Nexus 5 for 10 months. It’s a bit OTT to be swapping it so soon. isn’t it? True, but you can get really good prices for the Nexus 5 on eBay – the OnePlus would end up costing me very little.

The last issue I had most people would think minor but it’s the kind of thing that can be really niggly to some people. At the moment, when in the car, I put my Nexus 5 in the cup holder. It fits just nicely. The OnePlus, however, is wider and won’t fit. Where will I put it?

Anyway, with all the above I was veering towards not bothering. But then I found out how much OnePlus One’s were fetching on eBay – I could easily get my money back if I wasn’t happy with it. So, that was my decision made.

I bought the 64 GB Sandstone Black version and that cost £269 (plus £5 for standard delivery).  That comes with an EU charger with UK adapter. It is due to be delivered next week.

Now, before anyone asks about invites (when you buy a OnePlus you are also given some invites to give out) you don’t get them immediately but, instead, are allocated some when available. Once I do have some I’ll be giving them away via my Twitter account, so keep an eye out for that 🙂

Obviously, a review will be posted in due course.